Ourselves Alone

Episode Recap

Cameron watches a pigeon flying around the house, and tries to convince it to leave. After it slams against the window, she catches it and brings it outside. As she tells the bird to fly away, her hand squeezes and crushes the bird to death instead. She looks down at her hand and the pigeon's body with an air of melancholy. Sarah washes her hand in the bathroom and notices dried out blood stains on the floor, caused by Riley's attempted suicide.

As Sarah scrubs the stains off the floor, she sees Riley standing over her. Sarah tells her that she was wondering when she would see her again. Riley replies that she rested a couple of days. Sarah asks if that helped and Riley says not really. Sarah runs out of bleach so Riley offers to get some more from downstairs. As Riley looks at the can of bleach, John enters the kitchen. She apologizes to John for her troubles. John says it's in the past but she tells him that people don't forget the past. As Sarah waits, she hears the front door closing and gets up. She goes out to the corridor and finds the can of bleach on the floor.

Derek and Jesse are having target practice using apples. He tells her that there's a guy with some information he needs. Derek also notices that whenever Jesse mentions John, it's like she doesn't really know him, as he's the one with John. Jesse dodges the issue and asks if Sarah and Cameron boss him around. Derek gives her a choice on helping him out on his plan, or showing him some progress on her operation. Jesse finally agrees and asks him what he needs.

Meanwhile, Sarah reads newspaper clipping on the fire at Desert Heat & Air Conditioning and documents pertaining to Dakara Systems. Cameron enters the room and Sarah asks her about the missing stack of papers regarding a lawyer who set up a shell company. Cameron replies that Derek took it while she was gone. Sarah asks if he is chasing that lead down, but Cameron doesn't know. Sarah thinks she should have been kept in the loop, but Cameron says that she has been distracted lately. Sarah asks her about what happened on the day Riley tried to kill herself. Cameron tells her that Riley was upset and had a bruise on her head. John thought it was her foster dad but Riley said it was the door. Sarah knows that Riley is lying. Cameron then describes how Riley cut her own wrists. Sarah asks Cameron if it was her foster father who abused Riley but she says it's hard to tell as they don't know much about her. Cameron offers to talk to Riley's foster parents as she knows where she lives but Sarah says she will go.

In the garage, Cameron cuts her own wrist open with a razor and proceeds to pull open the skin of her arm, revealing mechanical parts underneath. She uses a screwdriver to test out the grip reflexes on her arm. As Cameron continues poking around with her arm, Riley comes back to the house to collect her bike and spots her actions through the window, and the fact she is a machine. She hastily rides away, but Cameron hears the sound. She goes outside just in time to see Riley quickly walking away from the scene.

Later, Cameron resumes diagnostics on her arm. John enters and she tells him that she killed a bird when holding it, due to some involuntary movement with her fingers. John observes some pretty deep damage in her arm when she moves her fingers. Cameron doesn't know when her arm malfunctioned and John tells her that she must have damaged it while in her fights with other machines. He examines her arm closely and thinks he can whip up some spare parts to fix it.

Cameron goes and carries one of the boxes in the garage out. John looks through the box and finds some endoskeleton parts. He angrily tells her that she was supposed to burn all the endos. Cameron answers not everything, as ordered by the future John. John doesn't seem convinced by her explanation so Cameron tells him that now he has the parts to fix her. As John takes out the parts from the box, Cameron tells him that future John has better information than he does.

Riley waits at a rendezvous point for Jesse. After she arrives, Riley tells her that Cameron is going to kill her as she saw her cut her arm open. Jesse asks why Cameron cut herself open but Riley says she doesn't know. Jesse says that if Cameron really saw her she would have been dead. Riley doesn't want to go back to John's house now and Jesse asks her if Cameron has been acting strange. To this Riley replies that everything Cameron does is strange. Jesse thinks Riley can go back to the house as long as she masters her fears. Riley thinks there's another way but Jesse says there isn't. She tells her that she won't let Cameron or anyone hurt her.

Sarah visits Riley's foster parents. She asks her foster father about how Riley was upset that day and had a bruise on her face. Riley's foster father doesn't know anything about that but Sarah thinks he may have abused her. The foster father explains that Riley assaulted his wife and started yelling about how the world is going to burn up and bleached skulls. He wanted to report Riley but her foster mother won't let him. He blames Sarah's son for being a bad influence on Riley and causing her to drop out of school like he did. He mentions a guidance counselor who also thought the same way. Sarah asks for the counselor's name and particulars. Before she leaves, the foster father tells her to keep John away from Riley as she's suffered enough.

Meanwhile, John manages to fix Cameron's arm. He asks her if she feels different and she replies yes, but she doesn't know if she's fixed. She asks John if he has anything on his schedule and he asks what this is all about. Cameron tells him he still has a lot to learn.

Sarah calls Derek up and tells him that she can't have him running somewhere else on some recon mission. She hangs up and speaks to Riley's guidance counselor, who is in fact Jesse. Later Jesse asks Sarah about her family. She tells her that she was happy that Riley became John's friend, but didn't know the girl was troubled. Jesse thinks that foster children like her are hard to tell as they come from broken homes or abusive parents. Sarah asks about where Riley comes from and is told by Jesse that her parents died in a fire and she became an orphan.

Jesse asks Sarah why Riley's suicide is at her house and Sarah says she doesn't know; that her main concern is to help the girl. Jesse is told by Sarah that she was out of town when the suicide happened. Jesse asks Sarah if it was wise to leave an adult male like John with a pretty teenage girl like Riley who's desperate for attention. Sarah assures Jesse that John was only trying to help Riley. Jesse counters this by mentioning John taking Riley to Mexico a while back, and states that taking a minor across the border without her parents' consent is a federal offence. Sarah tells him that she doesn't know and would have talked to her son about this. Jesse allows Sarah to clear up the situation by doing things her way for now. Meanwhile at the clinic, a nurse checks on her Riley's wrists and prescribes her some antibiotics, but Riley thinks that's not enough.

John is busy tapping away on his computer as Cameron approaches him. She asks what he's doing and he tells her that he's looking up a restaurant address for Derek. The lawyer he's searching for has reserved a booth there. Cameron thinks it's not a good idea to acquire a target at the restaurant as it's hard to dispose of the body. John says that's not necessary as Derek is only going to grab the lawyer and press him for information. Cameron thinks it's necessary as the information is about Skynet. She goes to make a sandwich for John and he asks about her hand. Cameron tells her that it's her problem and John asks her if she isn't really good at self-repairing. Cameron confirms she is and John says it's sometimes nice to have help and goes to make his own sandwich.

Meanwhile at the restaurant, Derek keeps a close eye on the lawyer and his group of friends. A woman sits next to him and asks him if he's going to buy her a drink. Derek tells her that he's here for business, not pleasure. The woman notices him looking at the lawyer and recognizes him. Derek asks her if the lawyer ever bought her drinks and she answers once or twice. The lawyer suddenly leaves with his girl and Derek follows.

John calls Riley to watch a movie over at his place, as Sarah arrives home. She tells him about Riley from the guidance counselor. Riley apparently told the counselor about him, Sarah, Derek and the incident at Mexico. John thinks it doesn't make any sense. Sarah tells him that Riley's foster father thinks that they are the reason why she tried to kill herself. She continues by telling John about Riley's description of a world burning up and bleached skulls. John tells his mother that he never told Riley anything, but Sarah doesn't believe him. He swears that he didn't and says he will talk to her, but Sarah says it's maybe too late for that. John asks what he's going to do and Sarah tells him to prepare for what's going to happen when Cameron finds out.

Later in the kitchen, John asks Cameron if it's possible for him to know something that future John doesn't know. Cameron says it's hard to know and seems unlikely. In response, he asks her if it's possible for him to know something that she doesn't. Cameron asks him if he implies that future John kept secrets from her. John confirms it and she says she's sure he did.

Riley comes over to John's house and Sarah lets her in. She tells the girl that she owes an explanation for al the things she said. Riley doesn't know about the guidance counselor but Sarah says she's a terrible liar. She tells Riley that John put a lot of trust in her. John comes into the room and takes over from his mother. John tells her about the things she apparently told to others, especially about Mexico. Riley asks him why she would go tell her foster dad or a counselor about those things. She swears that she never said anything about it to anyone. Cameron comes in and Riley asks if they can go somewhere private to talk.

Someone knocks on the door and Sarah asks her son if he's expecting anyone. John tells her no and goes to check the front door. He tells Sarah that it's someone with a clipboard. Cameron motions for Riley to go out the back. Sarah tucks her gun in her back and opens the door. A woman named Malloy stands outside, who tells them that she is from the Department of Child and Family Services and wants to speak with them about Riley. She asks them if Riley has been here but John says no. She requests to do a quick check of their home and Sarah and John have no choice but to comply.

Cameron brings Riley into the garage, and tells the girl that this is her fault, as she's the reason that person is here. Riley notices Cameron's twitching fingers and tells her that she can't keep her here as she's John's "sister". Cameron replies that Sarah and John don't know the way that she does things.

Malloy asks Sarah about the guns in the house and she tells her that the family keeps them for security as they were robbed. The woman asks if Sarah ever carried weapons outside the house and she asks what this is about. Malloy answers that she wants to know what kind of living environment she keeps for Riley and John here. She did a search and couldn't find a concealed weapons permit under Sarah's name. John tells the woman to check it under the state of New Mexico. Malloy says that such permits are invalid under California, but John has already done his homework and says they have 60 days to file a report to the Dept. of Justice. Malloy is a little satisfied with that reply and tells him she will be on the lookout for it.

As the two wait in the garage, Cameron asks Riley what she's going to do to her. Riley doesn't understand what she means. Cameron asks her if she made a complaint to the Dept of Child and Family Services. Riley tells her that she never told them anything. Cameron says that she doesn't belong here and John is not right for her and vice-versa. Riley looks at Cameron's twitching fingers as she says that John can't see that, as the machine approaches her. Riley tells her that she's freaking her out. Cameron tells her that she's unreliable and she doesn't know what she does. Riley says she's just John's girlfriend but Cameron says she can't be his girlfriend as she's a threat. She tells Riley that she can't stay here anymore, but she can't allow her to leave.

Cameron approaches close to her and asks Riley once again what she's going to do to her. Riley tells her to do nothing as she's John's sister. John enters the garage and finds both of them silent. He tells Riley to come with him and she immediately hugs John. John looks over at Cameron and knows that she did something to Riley. He tells Riley to go outside first. After she leaves, John asks Cameron if she was intending to kill her. Cameron says that she doesn't know what she's going to do. John is not satisfied with that answer but Cameron says she doesn't know, and tells John that he should have killed Riley as she's a threat to him. John says it's not her decision and asks what's happening to her. Cameron again replies that she doesn't know.

Sarah waits inside the house and watches outside, drawing her gun, but changes her mind and empties her gun. Outside, Riley tells John that she didn't make the call and he tells her that he really believes her, but asks her if there's anything she wants to tell him. Before she can decide, Sarah steps outside looking at her. Riley tells John no but asks him if he has anything to tell her too. John replies no.

Derek looks over some surveillance photos in Jesse's apartment just as she comes back home, in her counselor outfit. He tells Jesse that there's a lot of men protecting the lawyer and knows he's intending to flee the country, so they are going to grab him on the way to the airport. Jesse isn't sure she can do this as she's out of practice, and says that Derek has his own people. Derek replies that his people seem distracted, and asks Jesse if she is too. When Jesse doesn't respond, Derek tells her to bring a car tonight and that will be her job to block the convoy's route while he snatches the lawyer.

As Riley paces outside, John tells his mother that she didn't rat them out, but someone she trusted sold her out, but Riley won't say who. Sarah says this is not good as this means a lot of bad things. When they look outside, they discover Riley has disappeared.

At night, Derek watches for the convoy's appearance and hides himself, waiting for Jesse. Meanwhile, Jesse dresses up and prepares to leave, but Riley sneaks up on her and tries to strangle her. Jesse manages to knock her back and Riley breaks a bottle for a weapon. Jesse asks what she's doing and Riley tells her that her plan to use her to become John's girlfriend was not enough and concludes that Jesse wanted Cameron to kill her. Jesse says it's absurd but Riley says that she knows she's the only person that would turn John against Cameron. She knows that Jesse called the DCFS, her foster parents and her school, and asks how she could do that to her. She tells Jesse that she trusted and loved her.

Jesse throws a vase at Riley when she's distracted and locks her in a grip with the broken bottle at her neck. She tells Riley that she rescued her from hell to paradise and gave her a purpose, a chance to be a hero, but the girl doesn't want that. Jesse claims Riley as a coward, and Riley knocks her back, freeing herself. She and Jesse fight all over the room. Riley manages to strangle her but Jesse knocks her back. Riley grabs an ornament and starts beating Jesse up with it, but the latter kicks her back and snatches a gun from a hidden compartment in the table, shooting her. Riley drops to her knees and stares at Jesse before collapsing dead.

Meanwhile, the convoy has appeared on the road and Derek waits in vain for Jesse to arrive. In the morning, Cameron pokes around with a pocket watch, while John tells her that he can't find Riley. Cameron says that she eventually does. John intends to ask Cameron if she had done something to Riley but she tells him that she didn't.

He asks her what she's been doing for hours in the garage. Cameron presents him with the pocket watch, and tells him that he didn't manage to fix her. As she is incapable of self-termination, Cameron states that he can, but John asks her why he would want to kill her. Cameron says that he might have to someday, and the pocket watch contains a detonator to demolish her chip, using a small explosive she installed in her skull. Cameron places the watch over his neck and tells him that all he has to do is push the switch. He asks her what future John would do now, to which she replies that he doesn't live here, but John does. John silently accepts the watch and leaves. While walking down the road from his house, he finds a dead bird in the bushes, understanding what Cameron means.

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